Wish List

Art Spark Texas Wish List

Call 512-454-9912 or email [email protected].

1. Art Spark Texas (formerly VSA Texas) Side by Side internships offer real-world experience in new media (i.e. photography, video production, music, etc.) for young adults with disabilities. All activities are conducted by professionals in their field, and the interns are supported by volunteers recruited from ACC, UT and the local community. We need volunteers for our summer film Internship. They do not need any experience and must be age 18 or older. We provide training and supervision for the volunteers, and prefer that a volunteer stay for the entire length of the program, if possible.
2. The cost of training an audio describer is $2,000 for a three day intensive training. Approximately 3,799 people (including children) in Travis County are visually impaired. Audio description makes visual information accessible to all people. Training people in the art of audio description helps theaters, museums and other organizations ensure their events are accessible to people who are blind or have low vision.
3. Opening Minds, Opening Doors trains people with developmental disabilities in the art of public speaking. An initial 6-week training introduces speakers to the fundamentals of personal storytelling, and follow-up classes and speaking opportunities provide speakers with the experience to tell their stories to a wider audience. We need volunteers to assist with the classes, (i.e., scribing, reading scripts, etc.). Additionally, $3,000 pays for professional instructors for the initial training.
4. Since 2004, Art Spark Texas has placed professional expressive art therapists in special education classrooms in Austin ISD. $3,500 covers the cost of an 18-week residency in a classroom of students with social emotional challenges.
5. Young adults on the Autism Spectrum are very interested in new media (i.e., video, computer games). The Art Spark Texas New Media Arts High School course presents new media arts integrated with traditional arts in an academic setting. $6,000 supports two teaching artists in a semester-long course in a High School Life Skills class.
6.  Stand Up for Mental Health is an international movement to demystify the stigma of mental illness. Art Spark Texas has worked with world-renowned comedian and counselor David Granirer for the past two years to train Austin adults with a mental illness diagnosis in the art of stand up comedy. To train a new class of comedians, $6,500 covers David’s fee and the cost of producing an event at Capitol City Comedy Club.